Truleigh Hill

Truleigh Hill is a big, breezy 216-metre shoulder of the South Downs Way between the Adur valley and Devil's Dyke, crowned by a cluster of masts and a youth hostel. It is less mobbed than nearby honeypots and gives you sweeping panoramas: the sea at Shoreham, the sinuous River Adur, and downland rolling west toward Chanctonbury. The open, close-cropped turf makes for easy ground launches and there is usually enough space to keep well clear of people. Two things to weigh. Access is by a public byway off the Steyning-Shoreham road with only informal roadside space and a small lower car park, so it is a walk-in; and while the Way itself is a right of way, the surrounding land is working farmland, so treat TOAL as needing landowner goodwill and avoid launching directly over stock. Crucially, avoid drifting east toward Devil's Dyke, which is National Trust land where TOAL is banned. Airspace is fine: no FRZ overhead, with Shoreham (Brighton City) airport about 6km southeast, comfortably outside its 2.5km zone but close enough that you should check NOTAMs and stay low. Expect wind up here almost always; pick a calm, clear morning and the light across the Adur gap is superb.